Lubricator for deep-well drills and the like



O. DUDA April 7, 1925.

LUBRICATOR FOR DEEP WELL DRILLS AND THE LIKE Original Filed Oot. 21, 1822 Patented Apr. 7, 1925.

UNITED STATES g 1,532,554 PATENT OFFICE.

OBWALD DUDA, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO REED ROLLER BIT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF TEXAS.

LUBBICATOR FOR DEEP-WELL DRILLS AND THE LIKE.

Application led October 21, 1922, Serial No. 596,109. Renewed September 12, 1928.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, OswALD DUDA. a citizen of the United States. and a resident of Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricators for Deep-Well Drills and the like, 'of which the following is a specification.

The invention concerns the lubrication of the rotary cutter bearings f deep well drilling apparatus and, it consists in the features and combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described andparticu larly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a drilling apparatus embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the means for retarding the rotation of the screw rod relative to the piston.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of said means.

The invention may be embodied in apparatus of different forms, and it is therefore to be understood that the formv shown is illustrative of the principle of my invention and is not to be regarded as a limitation, thereon the scope of which'is defined by the appended claims. l

In the drawings 1 is a part of the drill stem through which flushing fluid is forced downwardly, by a pump on the drill rig platform for removing the detritus, which passes up between the drill stem and the wall of the well, after being dislodged by the cutters. These cutters may be of various forms and arrangements. They consist in the form chosen to illustrate my invention of side cutters 2, a cross roller cutter 3 and reaming cutters 7. The bearings of these cutters must be lubricated and for this purpose I show, as an example of my invention, a tube 4 arranged coaxially with the drill stem and within the same, said tube .being screw threaded at its lower end onto a socket member 5 which in turn is screw threaded into some part of'the drill head.

In the instance illustrated this socket is screw threaded into the reamer block 6,'

which carries reaming cutters 7 for reaming out the well hole formed by the cutters at the lower end of the apparatus.

The flushing iiuid passes down through the drill stem and through the annular space 8 between the lubricant reservoir 4 and the drill stem, thence through ports 9 and conduit 10 in the socket member, from whence 1t is delivered through the central bore 11 of the reamer block to conduits 12 of the drill head which deliver it to the recesses of the head in which the rotary cutters are located so that the cuttings-or material cut or dislodged by the cutters will be carried up outside of the drill stem to be discharged from the well.

The lubricant forced from the reservoir 4, as hereinafter described passes through the conduit 13 of the socket member 5 Ainto thev cup shaped space 14 at the upper end of the reamer block, thence through conduits 15 to a central lubricant holdingr chamber 16 of the drill head, from whence distribution takes place through conduits 17 to the bearings of the cutters at the lower end of the head and distribution also takes place through the conduits 18 to the reamer cutters.

The lubricant is forced through these various conduits from the reservoir 4 by a piston 19.

A screw threaded rod or shaft 20 extends lengthwise of the lubricating chamber and through the piston which is correspondingly screw threaded.

The low'er end -'of this rod is Plain and bears in the socket member 5. Its upper end bears in and passes through a cap 22 screw threaded into the upper end of the lubricant chamber.

This rod at its upper end carries a vertical blade of comparatively thin fiat form 23 all lateral faces of which lie in one plane, parallel with the axis of the drill stem. It extends substantially diametrically of the drill stem to the desired extent. In the form shown it is of a width a little less than the interior diameter of the drill stem, but

this dimension may be varied.

In the operation of the apparatus the drill stem is rotated together with the head or bit, and the lubricant chamber 4, at say 120 R. P. M. -The piston, in strongfrictional contact with the wall of the lubricant chamber, through its packing, will ro-. tate in unison with the drill steinI and the rest of the apparatus, but the rotation of the screw rod will not be at the same rate of" speed as that of the whole apparatus, but' on the contrary, its -rotation will be res tarded owing to the resistance which th"l vertical at blade 23 meets in inv the mass or body of the iushing fluid in the drill stem.v This body owing to its fluidity does not rotate at the saine rate of speed :as the drill stein and hence the rotation of the blade is resisted and the resultant retardation of the screw rod relative to the rate of -rotation of the whole apparatus, together with the piston, will cause the piston to be moved downwardly along the, threaded rod or shaft to force the lubricant'to the hearings of the rotary cutters. The degree of retardation of the screws rotation will depend largely upon the area of the vertical blade and this is calculated so as to gel any desired comparatively slow n'ioveinent of the piston along the lubricant chamber so that the lubricant will be supplied to the bearings in proper amount to prevent wear and at the same time to avoid waste.

The vertical retarding member is fixed to 'the upper end of the screw rod by a. clamp nut 21. It has a central enlargement provided with ratchet teeth 24, engaged by a detent fixed to the cap 22 of lubricant chamber. Should the apparatus be turned backward the detent or `pawl will cause the screw rod to rotate in unison with the apparatus so that under this condition there will be no retrograde 0r upward movement ofthe piston.

So long asthe apparatus is not rotated there will be no feed of lubricant. Neither the flow nor pressure of the fluid will have a turning effect on the blade for as before stated, this is vertically disposed and is of a thin flat form and lies in one vertical plane throughout, or rather in azplane cutting the axis of the drill stem. Nor will there be any tendency to turn the blade as the apparatus is lowered into or withdrawn from the well in a nonrotating condition.

In order to space or brace the upper end of the lubricant reservoir from the wall of the drill stem, I may form on the cap member 22, lugs 27 to bear on the inner side of the drill stem.

I have provided a thrust bearing for the screw shaft to resist .the back pressure exerted up through the lubricant ports and V"the body of the lubricant, consisting of a collar 28 shrunk on the plain part of the screw shaft and bearing on the under side of the cap 22. This plain upper end of the screw shaft is slightly reduced forming a shoulder bearing on the under side of the collar. This construction will resist all tendenc for the screw shaft to unduly lift un er back pressure exerted on the piston.

The piston may be made up of a main block portion with a downward extension carrying? a disc 29 between which and the main part a piston packing 30 is held. rll`he disc is held 1n place by a nut 3l. No provision is made for venting either to the ontside or inside of the drill stem from the upper part of the lubricant holder as I [ind in practice that this isnot necessary Venting of the upper part of the lubricant holder maxv be provided for, however, hy any suitabhl port and this may lead to the outside of the drill stem if desired.

The lower end of the screw rod where it fits into the socket member is plai-n, and in replenishing the reservoir it willv only be necessary to unseren' the cap and lift out the piston together with the screw rod or lift the parts out far enough to expose the bore of the tube for refilling.

It will be noticed that the threads of the screw rod are at a very low pitch and therefore one turn of theapparatus relative to the retarded screw will effect but aslight forward movement to the piston.

I do not limit myself to the form shown for getting the retarding effect on the screw rod relative to the rate of rotation of the piston.

Other means may be provided to make the piston rotate in unison with the apparatus but I have found that the frictional contact of the packing with the wall of the lubricant chamber is sufiicient for this purpose.

The paw] and ratchet will prevent retrograde movement of the piston when the power on rotary is cut 0H and thedrill apparatus stops rotating. At this time the flushing Huid, as a body, will keep in rotary motion for a short while and would turn the blade and screw in direction to retract the piston if the pawl and ratchet were not present to prevent this action.

I claim:

1. In combination in rotary deep well drilling apparatus, a head having rotary cutters, -a hollow drill stem through which fiushing fluid passes to the had` a lubricant holding chamber within the rill apparatus.P

a piston for forcing lubricant from said chamber to the bearings of the rotary cutters. a screw rod passing through the piston and engaging threads therein, and a member attached tothe screw rod and located in the body of liushing Huid, said member having all its surfaces disposed to prevent its rotation by the How of the flushing fluid, and to prevent its rotation at the samerate as that of the apparatus, to cause the piston to move along the lubricant chamber.

2. In combination in rotary deep well drilling apparatus a head having rotary cutters, a hollow drill stem through which flushing fluid passes to the head, a lubricant holding chamber within the drill apparatus, a piston for forcing lubricant from said chamber to the bearings of the rotary cutters, a screw rod passing through the piston and engaging threads therein. and a member attached to the screw rod and located in the body of dashing duid, said member cornprising a flat liladtl disposed with its lat eral faces parallel with thi` axis of the drill stem, and preventing the rotation of tho screw rod at the same rato of rotation as the piston, to cause the piston to traverse the screw.

il. ln combination -in rotary deep well drilling apparatus a head haviingr rotary cutters` a hollow Vdrill stem through which llushingrr fluid passes' to the head. a lubricant holdingr chamber within the drill apparatus` a piston for forcing lubricant from -said chamber to the bearings of the rotary rutters, a screw rod passing through the piston and engaging threads therein, and a meniber attached t0 the screw rod and located in the body of flushing fluid. said member having all its surface disposed to prevent its rotation by the flow of the flushing fluid and to prevent its rotation at the-same rate as that of the apparatus, to cause the piston .to move along'` the lubricant chamber, and

means to cause the Said member to turn in unison with the piston when the apparatus is rotated in a backward direction.

4. In rotary deep well drilling apparatus. a lubricant holder within the drill, a piston for forcingr the lubricant therefrom, and means for operating the piston, said means including a member retarded in-respect to the rotary motion of the apparatus and the piston by contact with the flushing Huid in the drill, and means for translating the dif- I ference between the rotative movement of the piston and the said means into a longitudinal movement of the piston, substantial- I v as described. i

In testimony whereof, I aix my signature.

OSWALD DUDA. 

